Govt at sixes and sevens over herdsmen

IF any Nigerian has tried to make sense of the federal government’s policies on herdsmen/farmers clash, he will by now be certain that no such policies exist, nor has one been really conceived. If the federal government itself thought it had a policy or policies in respect of the crisis and its resolution, its contradictory and nebulous statements on ranching and cattle colonies give the government away as extremely and deliberately dilatory. What seems to be at play is that the federal government has a soft spot for the herdsmen and has sought to find a policy mix that will favour them without offhandedly offending the rest of the country. It is safe to say that the government is clumsily walking a tightrope.

Last Monday’s security meeting in Abuja attended by about two ministers and some six governors is the clearest evidence of the federal government’s confusion and lack of sincerity. At the meeting designed to find strategies to end the crisis were the Interior minister, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, Agriculture minister, Audu Ogbeh, and the governors of Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Taraba and Adamawa states. It is instructive that in one short six-hour meeting, the government managed to send contradictory signals to a distressed and agitated public.

Before the meeting, the Agriculture minister, who should clearly know the mind of the government, disclosed to reporters that the federal government had decided to set up cattle colonies on 5,000 hectares of land where herdsmen would live and tend their livestock. He added that security and other infrastructure would be provided for the herdsmen. According to him, “We are planning a programme called cattle colonies not ranches, but colonies where at least 5, 000 hectares of land would be made available, adequate water, adequate pasture would be made available. We also want to stop herdsmen from roaming about; the culture of cattle roaming about will be stopped. The cattle will be provided with water and adequate security by the rangers, adequate pasture, milk collection, even security against rustlers to enable them to lead a normal life. This has been done elsewhere in India, Ethiopia and even Brazil.”

Mr Ogbeh justified this investment on the grounds that for over 50 years, the government had similarly invested in farmers and brought them up to speed in modern farming culture and management. He argued that the government’s lack of investment in the cattle business probably triggered the violence the country was witnessing. It is unclear whether he felt the killings were a justifiable vent for the herdsmen’s pent-up frustrations, for he said nothing about the tragedy of the killings in his own home state. The Monday meeting was held at the instance of the Interior minister who has apparently embraced the red herring of linking crimes and violent conflicts with electoral violence, implying that the country could be witnessing nothing but indeterminate crimes. He did not expressly talk about the bitter struggle for farm lands and pastures.

However, after the meeting, the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, and Taraba State governor, Darius Ishaku, addressed the press on the communiqué and told a totally different story, almost as if two meetings actually held on the same day at the same venue, and at the same hour. Hear Mr Ortom: “The meeting noted that all animal farmers must ranch their cattle and livestock for better productivity. It also observed the existing synergy between the security agencies and between the states and the Federal Government.” Either they used the words ‘colonies and ranches’ interchangeably or, given what the country already knows about the situation in Benue and Taraba, not to talk of their anti-open grazing laws, the communiqué was clear in differentiating between the two terms.

Some two days later, while addressing the press on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the Information minister, Lai Mohammed, gave his opinion on the herdsmen crisis. According to him, “What I can assure you is that the government is very, very concerned about the herdsmen and farmers clashes, and it is receiving attention at the highest level. And as to if troops will be sent, it will be a decision after thorough deliberation on the matter…I’m not an agricultural expert. I know that a colony is much bigger in nature than the ranch.” It was obvious that the FEC did not really discuss the Benue crisis and herdsmen attacks, nor did they attempt to formulate the difference between cattle colonies and ranching. In short, if Mr Ogbeh spoke of cattle colonies, he was speaking for himself or simply flying a kite. And if Mr Mohammed explained the difference between ranching and cattle colonies, he was simply being true to himself when he confessed he was not an expert in that field.

Indeed, it was not until a few more days after the first meeting that Mr Lalong visited the Agriculture minister in Abuja to seek clarification over the cattle colonies matter. The minister happily obliged. Said Mr Ogbeh: “Ranching is more of an individual venture for those who want to invest, but cattle colony is bigger in scope and size. It is going to be done in partnership with states government who wish to be part of it. Already 16 states have volunteered land. Nobody is going to seize land from any community for the project…Cattle colony is not using Fulani herdsmen to colonize any state. It is going to be done in partnerships with state governments that would like to volunteer land for it. Federal government will fund the project and those wishing to benefit from it will pay some fees.”

Perhaps sometime in the future, he will address why herdsmen either want the government to pave way for their private businesses or claim the right to make way for themselves by force, including seeking to violently abrogate states grazing laws.

But what the country needs is for FEC to continue to discuss the herdsmen killings at its Wednesday meetings until the matter is resolved, and to also give the country a very clear and precise idea of what it intends to do, whether to ranch or set up colonies. They, however, seem undecided, as the divergence between the Agriculture minister’s view on the one hand suggests, and the communiqué read by Messrs Ortom and Ishaku on the other hand indicated. Surely, there are better and more precise ways to run a country.